Getting Behind and Staying in Reality

Okay, I'm a rather ashamed to admit this but - I haven't been working on my WIP as much as I should have lately.
This isn't just forgetting to write a couple of times. I went at least two weeks now without writing a word on it.
This. Is. Not. Good.
Not only does it mean I'm behind on my plan, I'm also pretty ashamed about it. I told myself I would not let this happen, and yet I let it do just that.
After realising this huge failure of mine I immediately set out to correct it. Hence I have now added over 1000 words to my WIP in less than two days. This is progress. It has also brought me very close to the 8000 word mark *breaks into happy dance*.

So the point of this post is (it seems at the moment not a lot of my posts really have a point):
Don't ever give up. Keep writing until that manuscript/ blog post/ article/ anything else you may be writing is finished.
Don't worry if you're writing complete tosh - you can always go back and redo it later. The point is that you finish it. Not matter how good or bad it is, you will have gained something and can say "Yes, I have managed to do this." It's a nice little ego boost for you.

Second point:
Know your priorities.
(I know I've done another post on this, but I will say it again because it is feeling relevant to me right now.)
We all can struggle with prioritising. We may know there is something important hanging over us and yet we carry on with something else. For me, writing is the 'something else' most of the time - much as I wish it were otherwise. I cannot pretend to myself that my schoolwork and getting into University do not matter to me that much. They do matter. A lot.
And they take time and energy. Things that I would often prefer to spend writing. But I know that writing is not usually a very lucrative career choice and I'd have a much better chance of earning money if I follow the school -> university -> job path.
So this is my second piece of advice: don't let the world pass you by. Writing may be your way of escape and  - you never know - you could turn out a very successful author/journalist/*insert other job here*. But if that doesn't work out, you need a firm base in reality (I think it's a good idea not to starve).
If you're young, focus on schoolwork and get your qualifications. If you've left school, don't quit your day job until you're certain writing is enough. You don't have to take this advice, but (for once) I don't think it's bad advice (I'm not normally good at this sort of stuff).

Okay. I think I'm done being serious and responsible for now.
I apologise for the very down-to-earth post. I got some exam results today, so this sort of thing has been on my mind a lot.
Hope this was useful to someone.
W-O xxx

Julie Kagawa ARC Contest and Learning More About Blogger

Okay, first things first.
The wonderful author of the 'Iron Fey' books series, Julie Kagawa, is hosting a giveaway over on her blog for a signed ARC copy of her new book, The Immortal Rules. It's international, so you don't have to worry about where in the world you live and it definitely looks like a good book :)
The linky for it is here.


And onto a slightly more serious topic - though not much more!

I've been on Blogger since November-time. So far I've worked out most aspects of the Dashboard and how to write, edit and decorate my blog. Unfortunately my expertise does not extend much beyond that.
Up until about ten minutes ago I had no idea how to put in a hyperlink. As shown above ^ I have now worked out how it is done.
But I realised when I first joined that I'd have to learn a lot, in order to make my blog interesting.
Sadly I still haven't worked out how to put pictures in, therefore so far my posts have not been very exciting in that respect.
If anyone knows how I include pictures, please, feel free to share your knowledge with me. I won't bite (much).

This probably won't be a very useful post to anyone, but thanks for taking the time to read it anyway.
W-O